ALBUM REVIEW: Local Natives- Gorilla Manor (2010)

There is something intangible about Local Natives and the music they make. Yes, it sounds like indie rock. It also takes a very "everything-but-the-bathroom-sink" approach to composition and production, yet stays away from being excessive in the wrong ways. There's a pretension to the arrangements, I'll admit. But it's a seductive kind of low-level decadence that draws you into the world these guys create. The band is Local Natives and the album is Gorilla Manor. This record has grown on me over the course of the last year and I thought it was about time I shared it with the world.

The first track on the record is the perfect introduction to what these guys are about. "Wide Eyes" starts things off with such a compelling arrangement of driving drums and sparkling melodious guitar work that it almost outdoes the rest of the album in terms of execution. At least that's what I thought at first, before I let the remaining tracks really dig in over the course of the 10 or more months I've been digesting Gorilla Manor. The album really has a tangible ebb and flow, which is not apparent on the first few listens. I found the record to have certain songs that immediately stand out ("Wide Eyes", "Shape Shifter", "Who Knows, Who Cares?", "Cubism Dream") that are successively scattered throughout the record that act as cornerstones for the rest of the songs. These are the ones that will most likely have a more immediate effect, but that is only on preliminary listens. If it weren't for these tracks, I may not have been as compelled to keep returning to this album, yet because I did, I found that the entire record is worth digging into.

There's a polite eclecticism to Gorilla Manor that slowly draws you in. Each song can be taken as part of the collective whole, but all of the songs have unique ways of arriving at an essential cohesive sound that Local Natives can be proud to call their own. Using angular and inventive indie rock as a starting point, the band peppers each track with additional instrumentation, clever production tricks, great songwriting, and an ever-present commitment to great melodies. Nothing here is strange enough to alienate the listener, but most songs still take time to sink in over many attentive listens. That means the songs are bright and interesting enough to capture your attention, but may take a while to really endear themselves to you. That's okay though, because this record is one that royally rewards repeated listens.

There are flavours of jazz, world music, classicist pop, alternative rock and even a little bit of (dare I say?) emo thrown into the beautiful blender that is Gorilla Manor. The band is proficient in each style they attempt, and there is actually not one totally weak track throughout the album. Though it does suffer from a same-ness in parts, that does relieve itself the more familiar this album gets. For anyone looking for a more immediate satisfaction, you'll probably end up playing "Wide Eyes" about a million times. For anyone willing to take some time digging for musical treasure, you'll play "Wide Eyes" about a million times and then find yourself returning to the album again and again for the many pleasures that will most certainly unfold. With a little bit of diligence and patience, Gorilla Manor soon becomes a wonderful place to reside.

Wide Eyes (Track 1)

Hurts So Good: A Short Essay On Elliott Smith

What Elliott Smith meant to the world is something I'm barely familiar of. I can only comment post-mortem on his work, but that doesn't mean it is any less appreciated. I think the simply amazing thing about Elliott Smith is how he somehow creates a space within his music that, while usually only consisting of a rousing interplay of acoustic guitars and haunting melodies, can somehow coalesce into a floating, streaming, ever-changing atmosphere. The ethereal sounds float and bathe the senses in an understated charm; the melodies are simple, as well as simply a little different than what you've heard before. This is a trait of most artists that attain greatness, the ability to use familiar pieces to construct a wholly original body of work, a task that isn't easy. Yet, in the context of Smith's music, sounds somewhat effortless.

The incredible thing about Elliott Smith is how he can imbue his songs with  such a palpable sense of loss and longing. He actually uses sarcasm and sardonic humour to make his point, which is compelling, considering the dark themes that usually come to the fore. Smith doesn't pummel the listener with sadness and hopelessness-- it's actually kind of hard to tell his songs are usually sad ones, until you listen a few more times and suss out the lyrics. That means you can approach his music on your own terms, there's no need to necessarily be in a downbeat mood to enjoy his gently stirring songs. And that's what makes the heartbreak so tangible. As you start to familiarize yourself with his music, it starts to really dig in. What started off as a simply pretty melody, slowly begins to twist itself into a dark rumination on the shadowy corners of human existence. This is a quality that most of his songs possess.

Elliott smith didn't just stick to a lone acoustic guitar though. He also had a great sense of mood and atmosphere, and did his best to also incorporate interesting instrumental arrangements, especially in his later albums. In staying true to his modus operandi, Smith never lets the production overtake the songs. He doesn't go for flash or pomp-- Smith had the good sense to use the inflated production to add texture & mood, something he probably learned from listening to Beatles records. You get the distinct sense of his classic influences, not a desire to blow up his sound into something huge. All of his complimentary musical additions are mostly acoustic in nature; Smith isn't big on digital drum machines or synthesized noises. His songs are compelling on their own, and Smith uses additional instruments and production tricks to enhance their impact, not to try and make his music more accessible. This means, that even at his most overblown (which, for Elliott Smith, is still quite modest), the songs speak for themselves. The music is still wholly his. You almost get the sense that Smith was somewhat self-conscious, and knew the dangers of alienating an audience that had grown accustomed to a certain simplicity. In any case, he had an intrinsic sense of how to best serve his songs, and that always comes through on record.

Sadly, Elliott Smith was notoriously depressed, and took his own life under less than straightforward circumstances in 2003. I'm not going to go over all the odd details and burning questions that remain. That's not what this post is about. I wanted to draw attention to a great indie talent that was taken from the world too soon, although not before leaving quite an extensive catalogue to explore and enjoy. It's hard to tell where he would have taken his music had he not decided on a much darker fate. As for what he left behind, the music speaks for itself.